Tea at Trianon: Women in White

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Friday, February 8, 2019

Women in White

From The National Review:

Clothing is powerful. That’s why I was disturbed by the decision of Democratic congresswomen to wear white to the State of the Union address. Wearing white was the style code for the event, decided by Florida congresswoman Lois Frankel, who said that when Donald Trump looked out into the House Chamber during the address, he would “see a sea of Suffragette white, sending the message loud and clear…”

For me, their message was indeed loud and clear.

I will, as million of women do, wear white on my (eventual) wedding day. I’ll wear white on Easter Sunday. White represents purity and life, and is often reserved for special occasions. In Syria as elsewhere, the color of clothing holds a very significant role in the culture, especially during mourning. And having been raised around the Syrian tradition, I was especially crestfallen to see white worn by these specific women, especially during a time where millions of Americans, including myself, are mourning the recent New York abortion legislation and Virginia governor Ralph Northam’s barbaric remarks on “post-birth abortion.”

In Syria, it’s a tradition for women to wear black for several months (or, in older times, even years) following the death of a family member. Widows will wear black for the rest of their lives after their husband’s death — my grandmother has worn black nearly everyday since the passing of my uncle (her son) in 2006. Black is so symbolic to Syrians, that when I was a child, I still remember my mother telling me that it was “haram” for me to wear all black clothing. Black clothing symbolizes death, impurity, and loss. (Read more.)